This will be a big issue going forward, and I bet the government gets involved, generously.
I’d like to point out that the prorated cost—amount of term used/not used—isn’t the entire cost to the payor or the student. Credits are granted for completion of courses, usually upon the demonstration of some competence, such as grading on an exam, project, or paper. If a course is interrupted in the middle, how can it be finished? Does it have to be completely retaken? Will working via computer from home provide enough education? It’s going to get complicated, with different answers for different areas of study.
Any classes that require hands on work like labs and technical schools cannot be adequately completed. My daughter is training to be a master woodworker. There is no way she can do her projects at home.
I can imagine an English class continuing as an online class with relatively little damage to instruction.
Not sure how you do that with a lab science class.
All modern colleges have the ability to just finish their classes online. At worst there might be a few labs that can’t be done online.
What about kids who live off-campus? Rent is still due but you suddenly are paying for an apartment that you might not even be about to sub-let for 6 months! This is a wake-up call to artificial nature of today's average college education. It's a racket. Pure and simple. If you can do Harvard online now, why pay for the Cambridge experience? The college liberal faculties should take this as a warning because if you can't brainwash kids in a classroom, the whole propaganda model shifts and the indoctrination game just isn't the same.
Great news for the snowflakes. They can go home to their basement bedrooms.